I didn’t realize how much I like a featherlite laptop.
As a writer these last 20 years, and with a book coming out this January about what I’ve learned during that time, I have to say — anytime I’m surprised by a gadget, I always pay attention.
The Acer Swift 3 is highly portable. At 2.6 pounds, it feels like you are barely carrying it when you move around the house, and it means I’m more likely to look up a quick Amazon product or even read an electronic book and not feel like I’m lugging around a toaster.
The laptop has an all-silver look and sits perfectly still on the counter. I’ve tested laptops over the years that tip around too much or slide easily, mostly because they are designed poorly.
The unit I tested measures 9.2 x 11.9 x 0.63 inches, has 16GB of RAM and a 512GB drive with a 13.5-inch screen. The form factor is ideal as an everyday machine, one that is not for Photoshop editing per se but also not meant to sit on a desk all day.
There’s a built-in fingerprint reader, a backlit keyboard, and a USB-C port that helped connect to a portable printer, adding camera cards using an adapter, and charging up my earbuds in a pinch. The laptop costs $1,200 on Amazon.
My favorite feature is the lightness, though.
I tried testing the device in a few conditions, but my favorite was on a bike trip. I had a padded backpack and just bought a new bike, so I hit the trail to see if the laptop was versatile enough for a day trip and also light enough that I didn’t regret bringing it.
I took off to my favorite coffee shop with a patio (and patio furniture). I sat for a while and noticed the screen looked clear, crisp, and highly visible even on a day when the sun kept peeking through the clouds. I had no problem processing my email and using Microsoft Teams. I ended up biking to another coffee shop and dealing with some light rain.
With the Core i7-1065G7 processor, I had no trouble doing Zoom calls and even had some massive spreadsheets up and running at the same time. I could see them fine, didn’t run into any slowdowns, and felt like I could do even more with the Shift 3.
My only slight gripe is that the keyboard is a bit too white. It was hard to see the keys at times in the sunshine, especially when I was looking for special characters and key commands.
You can’t go wrong with the lightweight design, though. It’s a smart, stylish machine.
